Written Answers Wednesday 7 May 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have resulted from the test purchasing pilot scheme for the sale of alcohol to under 18-year-olds in Fife and how many of these were instigated after those being prosecuted had been reported for (a) one and (b) more than one offence of this type as a result of the pilot scheme.

Frank Mulholland QC: The test purchasing pilot scheme carried out by Fife Constabulary tackled the sale of alcohol to children under 18 in a variety of ways:

  Advising licensees about ways to ensure compliance.

  Targetting premises that sell alcohol to children.

  Reporting all breaches to the Licensing Board.

  Prosecuting where appropriate.

  As a result of the pilot seven people (four licence holders and three employees) were prosecuted in relation to alcohol test purchasing failures at four separate licensed premises. The Procurator Fiscal was not barred from prosecuting where one failure only was reported to him and he took all the circumstances of each case into account in deciding what action to take. In the event, these cases involved two test purchase failures. The pilot’s focus on educating and advising licence-holders clearly produced a failure rate of 17% which was low compared with rates in other jurisdictions.

Local Government

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any restrictions apply to councillors employing individuals as political advisers.

John Swinney: Provisions relating to political advisers are contained within the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

Local Income Tax

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who will be responsible for collecting a nationally set local income tax from Scottish residents working in England whose pay and tax are administered in England.

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who is legally responsible for ensuring (a) payment and (b) collection of a nationally set local income tax from Scottish residents working in England whose pay and tax are administered in England.

John Swinney: The government’s proposals for a local income tax to replace the council tax are set out in the consultation document A Fairer Local Tax for Scotland as part of the on-going consultation exercise which closes on 18 July. The consultation will of course involve many individuals and organisations with an interest in how the local income tax will be collected and distributed. We will publish an analysis of responses to the consultation in the autumn and further detailed proposals will follow in due course.

Local Income Tax

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether legal powers exist to force the collection of a nationally set local income tax from Scottish residents working in England whose pay and tax are administered in England.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11722 on 23 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

NHS Services

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery, whether all NHS services have contingency plans in place.

Shona Robison: Sound business continuity planning should be part of every organisation’s day-to-day business. It is for each organisation to ensure that if one of the suppliers providing services critical to the operation of the organisation fails they have access to an alternative supplier.

  NHS boards are designated as Category 1 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, paragraph 2(1). As a consequence of that status, NHS boards have a statutory obligation to maintain plans to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, that if an emergency occurs, they are able to continue to perform their functions. This planning should include consideration of the continuity of all essential supply chains, including fuel supplies.

  At a UK level, contingency plans do exist to ensure that as far as possible all essential services have priority access to fuel supplies if those supplies begin to run short. Planning for this and invocation of these plans is a matter reserved to the government in Westminster. Scottish Government will work closely with the Westminster Government in implementing these plans should it ever be necessary to invoke them.

Police

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time police officers there have been at the end of each month since March 2007, also broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: The information requested is collected on a quarterly basis and is provided in the Following tables:

  Number of Full-Time and Part-Time Officers (Head Count) by Quarter, Broken Down by Police Force Area

  31 March 2007

  

 Police Force
 Full-Time
 Part-Time
 Total


 Central
 807 
 30 
 837 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 484 
 21 
 505 


 Fife
 1,036 
 34 
 1,070 


 Grampian
 1,329 
 69 
 1,398 


 Lothian and Borders 
 2,720 
 103 
 2,823 


 Northern
 687 
 27 
 714 


 Strathclyde
 7,660 
 232 
 7,892 


 Tayside
 1,131 
 34 
 1,165 


 Scotland
 15,854 
 550 
 16,404 



  30 June 2007

  

 Police Force
 Full-Time
 Part-Time
 Total


 Central
 804 
 28 
 832 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 482 
 22 
 504 


 Fife
 1,030 
 40 
 1,070 


 Grampian
 1,361 
 75 
 1,436 


 Lothian and Borders 
 2,719 
 114 
 2,833 


 Northern
 688 
 27 
 715 


 Strathclyde
 7,633 
 243 
 7,876 


 Tayside
 1,139 
 41 
 1,180 


 Scotland
 15,856 
 590 
 16,446 



  30 September 2007

  

 Police Force
 Full-Time
 Part-Time
 Total


 Central
 804 
 29 
 833 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 487 
 20 
 507 


 Fife
 1,039 
 37 
 1,076 


 Grampian
 1,365 
 82 
 1,447 


 Lothian and Borders 
 2,727 
 114 
 2,841 


 Northern
 700 
 27 
 727 


 Strathclyde
 7,623 
 252 
 7,875 


 Tayside
 1,145 
 39 
 1,184 


 Scotland
 15,890 
 600 
 16,490 



  31 December 2007

  

 Police Force
 Full-Time
 Part-Time
 Total


 Central
 790 
 33 
 823 


 Dumfries and Galloway
 490 
 19 
 509 


 Fife
 1,034 
 37 
 1,071 


 Grampian
 1,387 
 80 
 1,467 


 Lothian and Borders 
 2,745 
 119 
 2,864 


 Northern
 696 
 25 
 721 


 Strathclyde
 7,553 
 255 
 7,808 


 Tayside
 1,146 
 39 
 1,185 


 Scotland
 15,841 
 607 
 16,448

Prison Service

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sniffer dogs are used in the Scottish Prison Service to detect drugs.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service Tactical Dog Unit have currently five drug detection dogs this being made up of three passive detection dogs and two proactive detection dogs.

Prison Service

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on prison officers undertaking other employment in their time off.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS is keen to ensure that employees should have a healthy balance between work and non-work life. All staff are required to seek permission from the organisation prior to undertaking secondary employment. Secondary employment includes self-employment and voluntary work. This approval is twofold; to ensure that the proposed working hours do not breach the terms of the Working Time Regulations, and that the proposed activity does not form a conflict of interest. The policy has been agreed by and is jointly signed by SPS management and the Trade Union Side.

Prison Service

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to increase the amount of locally produced food in prisons.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service as a public body must comply with the European Union Procurement Rules - all SPS food supplies are purchased in accordance with these rules which do not permit any national or regional bias which would allow the SPS to specify "locally produced food".

Public Transport

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reregulate bus services.

Stewart Stevenson: At present there are no plans to re-regulate the bus industry in Scotland. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 provides a framework which allows local transport authorities to enhance the provision of local bus services. The act provides a toolkit of options including Quality Partnerships, Quality Contracts, provision of information about local bus services and joint ticketing schemes.

Road Accidents

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the fatal accidents on the A9 occurred on (a) single and (b) dual carriage sections of the road between Perth and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Stewart Stevenson: The following table shows the number of fatal accidents on the A9 on single and dual carriageway sections of the road between Perth and Inverness in each of the last five years.

  Fatal Accidents

  

 
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 Total


 Single Carriageway
 4
 3
 1
 6
 5
 19


 Dual Carriageway
 1
 2
 0
 1
 1
 5



  The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, for example because of late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

Road Accidents

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the serious but non-fatal accidents on the A9 occurred on (a) single and (b) dual carriage sections of the road between Perth and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Stewart Stevenson: The following table shows the number of serious but non-fatal accidents on the A9 on single and dual carriageway sections of the road between Perth and Inverness in each of the last five years.

  Serious Accidents

  

 
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 Total


 Single Carriageway
 12
 10
 11
 9
 8
 50


 Dual Carriageway
 4
 2
 3
 0
 1
 10



  The figures quoted may differ slightly from those published elsewhere because they were extracted on a different date and the database may have changed between the two dates, for example because of late returns or corrections to earlier returns.

Scottish Futures Trust

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be financed using the same method of public finance that will be used to fund the New Southern General Hospital.

Stewart Stevenson: The proposed method of funding being considered for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route is set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2008 which is available from:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/03/28122237/0.

Scottish Government

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that arrangements for sharing risks between central government, local government and insurers are transparent and optimal in terms of minimising the overall costs to the taxpayer and ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to reduce risks.

John Swinney: Scottish Government and local authorities are each responsible for managing the risks attaching to their own property and activities. Scottish Government itself is a sufficiently large body to be able to self insure its risks. As a result, it uses commercial insurance rarely, generally only where contractual commitments require such cover. Local government also uses a mix of commercial insurance and self insurance. The extent to which local authorities use insurance is a matter for them, and they will take into account the size and nature of any risk in relation to the resources of the authority in reaching a decision.

Scottish Ministerial Code

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to bring in independent oversight of the Scottish Ministerial Code, as agreed by the Parliament on 28 February 2008 ( Official Report c. 6538) and, if so, what form such oversight will take.

Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government will bring forward a statement to Parliament on the review of the Scottish Ministerial Code and any related arrangements for scrutiny once the review of the code has concluded.

Transport

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership of the group overseeing the delivery of the National Transport Strategy (NTS) action plan will be and where and when its meeting dates and agendas will be published.

Stewart Stevenson: Membership of the NTS Stakeholder Group is expected to comprise stakeholders including COSLA, the business sector, STUC, regional transport partnerships, academics and bodies representing wider transport interests, as well as officials from transport, climate change and health directorates.

  Once the group is set up, its meeting dates, agendas and minutes will be published on the Scottish Government website.

Transport

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average speeds were of (a) cars and (b) HGVs on the A9 along speed-monitored sections of the road in each of the last five years.

Stewart Stevenson: This information is not available in the format requested. Transport Scotland holds speed data captured by its traffic counting sites at specific locations along the entire length of the A9. This data is captured over a 24-hour period and is for all classes of vehicles. Transport Scotland does not hold speed data for specific classes of vehicles.

Vaccinations

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10805 by Shona Robison on 25 March 2008, on what basis it concluded that mitochondrial disorder is an extremely rare genetic metabolic condition.

Shona Robison: This conclusion was based on the fact that the US United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation quotes a rate of one case per 4,000 live births. Further, Dr Lindsey Kent in an article in New Scientist on 3 March 2008 noted that mitochondrial diseases are very rare, amounting to 5.7 per 100,000 individuals.

Vaccinations

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-10809 by Shona Robison on 25 March 2008, how much research has been conducted by the Medical Research Council and the Chief Scientist Office into the role that has been established of combined multiple vaccinations significantly aggravating an underlying mitochondrial disorder, predisposing a child to deficits in cellular energy metabolism and manifesting as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism.

Shona Robison: The Medical Research Council (MRC) funds a mitochondrial disorder unit. At this point they have not researched vaccination in their patients as they are not aware of any research which might have "established the role" of combined multiple vaccinations in significantly aggravating an underlying mitochondrial disorder. However, the MRC would be open to considering proposals for research along such lines.

  The Chief Scientist’s Office have likewise not conducted any research on this issue.

Voluntary Sector

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide guidance on the "power of well-being" and how it can be used to assist community-based social enterprises.

John Swinney: The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 - Guidance on the Power to Advance Well-Being was published in April 2004. The guidance is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 32429) or can be accessed at:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/pawbg-00.asp.

  Section 20(1) of the act gives a local authority the power to do anything that it considers is likely to promote or improve the well-being of its area and persons within that area, or either of those. It is for the local authority to decide whether any particular action would be likely to promote or improve the well-being of its area and/or persons in it.

  The Enterprising Third Sector plan will ensure that training and advice is given to local authority purchasers, this will include specific advice on areas that could be supported under the power of wellbeing including public social partnerships and community benefit clauses which could benefit social enterprises.